1. To eliminate altogether or to get rid of; to completely destroy: The school decided not to abolish the required physical education program.

The decision of the school principal to abolish cheerleaders during football games upset both parents and students.

The teacher was abolishing all the mathematical equations from the chalkboard when he wiped it clean.

People in Mark's neighborhood tried to abolish the noise made by other people's dogs during the night.

2. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; such as, to abolish slavery, to abolish illegal drugs: The edict from the mayor's office abolishes the requirement to license pets.

Some people are trying to abolish the death penalty.

3. To put an end to, or to destroy; such as, physical objects; to wipe out: In his famous speech, the president abolished the use of the term "freaks" when referring to individuals with abnormalities in circuses and carnivals.
4. Used especially in legal circles to indicate the annulment of a law: Compulsory military service in the United States has been abolished; so, the services now have volunteers as members.
5. Etymology: borrowed from Middle French aboliss-, stem of abolir, "to abolish, to do away with"; a borrowing from Latin abolere, "to cause to die out, to retard the growth of" from ab- "from" + -adolere, "to grow, to nourish" and is said by some etymological sources to be related to adolescere, "to grow up".

1. That which has been annulled, done away with , or destroyed: With the abolishment of the school rule about wearing nail polish, the girls were much happier.
2. Anything that has come to an end or stopped: When Vicki was reading the newspaper, she read the column listing all the abolishments which had been carried out by the city council.

1. A belief or system of beliefs that are accepted as authoritative by some group or school of thought: Abolitionism was one of the driving elements behind the Civil War in the United States.
2. A social movement aimed at liquidating or getting rid of some law or an undesirable practice: Women lead the abolitionism against the production of liquor and the operation of taverns and bars.

Abolitionisms; such as, indentured workers or slave-working conditions are often opposed with vigor.

1. Someone who supports getting rid of something; such as, a system, a practice, or an institution: Stanley was considered an abolitionist who was leading the students' cause to eliminate unfair grading systems.

Abolitionists believed that slavery violated the basic human rights of freedom and so they insisted on making slavery illegal by proposing new antislavery laws for the country.

The most influential publication before the Civil War was Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), the best-selling novel and play by Harriet Beecher Stowe; the most famous abolitionist of the time.

Harriet Stowe emphasized the horrors that abolitionists had long claimed about slavery.

2. People who want to destroy a law or practice of some kind: The abolitionists against the cruel treatment of animals included several groups across the entire country.

As an abolitionist, Monroe Jones fought to end the practice of slavery in the United States before the Civil War.

The elimination of slavery and the conflict between the abolitionists and those in favor of slavery were factors that led to the Civil War in America.